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if mcconnell would prefer to talk to the vice president, democrats say they are fine with that. there is still significant differences, i'm told and so tonight, the senate will go home, they will be back tomorrow morning and we await news then. kate? >> kelly o'connell watching it all on capitol hill. president obama has been trying to turn the heat on congress this weekend, applying new pressure on this interview with david gregory on "meet the press." nbc's kristen welker has more on that angle from the white house. good evening. >> reporter: kate you good evening. the president has repeatedly blamed republicans for the fiscal cliff stalemate and now, he is doubling down on that criticism. on "meet the press," president obama continued his public campaign to pressure congress. >> if congress doesn't act, then everybody's taxes go up. and for the average family that could mean a loss of $2,000 in income and the whole economy could slow down at a time went economy's actually starting to pick up. >> reporter: he, again, called on lawmakers to strike a deal or hold a vote on his p
if mcconnell would prefer to talk to the vice president, democrats say they are fine with that. there is still significant differences, i'm told and so tonight, the senate will go home, they will be back tomorrow morning and we await news then. kate? >> kelly o'connell watching it all on capitol hill. president obama has been trying to turn the heat on congress this weekend, applying new pressure on this interview with david gregory on "meet the press." nbc's kristen welker has...
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Dec 30, 2012
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the two senate leaders harry reid and mitch mcconnell are work on a stopgap bill. >> at some point, the negotiating process, it appears that there are things that stop us from moving forward. i hope we are not there but we are getting close. >> i want everyone to know i am willing to get this done. but i need a dance partner. >> reporter: the legislation would prevent a tax increase for reveille 98% of the -- for roughly 98% of workers extend unemployment benefits and prevent a huge cut in payments to medicare doctors. >> we should introduce legislation that would make sure middle class taxes stay where they are and there should an up or down vote. >> reporter: if they reach a deal it won't pass congress necessarily by monday night. if it doesn't every body income tax also go up. average family would pay an extra $3446 more in 2013. and farm programs would expire. potentially doubling the price of milk. and if congress doesn't pass a new bill. >> we will come back with a new congress in january 4th and the first bill that will be introduced will be class families. >> reporter: the barga
the two senate leaders harry reid and mitch mcconnell are work on a stopgap bill. >> at some point, the negotiating process, it appears that there are things that stop us from moving forward. i hope we are not there but we are getting close. >> i want everyone to know i am willing to get this done. but i need a dance partner. >> reporter: the legislation would prevent a tax increase for reveille 98% of the -- for roughly 98% of workers extend unemployment benefits and prevent...
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vice-president joe biden talking with the senate republican leader mitch mcconnell this afternoon. perhaps proof of how dire the circumstances are, president obama took to the sunday show, potentially setting when we careen off the cliff, and in congress. less than 48 hours from falling off the cliff, president obama is putting the blame on republicans. >> the offers i have made them are so fair that a lot of democrats get mad at me. >> on his first sunday show appearance since 2009, the president said just a day ago that he was optimistic that a short-term deal could be reached. now, not so much. >> what we're seeing here is a monumental failure of presidential leadership. >> the better back-and-forth continues to be over how to cut spending and what the income threshold to be for who gets a tax hike. >> what i am arguing for is maintaining tax cuts for 90% of americans. i did not think anybody would consider that and liberal, left- wing agenda. >> republicans say their agenda, not stifling an already fragile economy with tax hikes on those who are behind small business. >> the hi
vice-president joe biden talking with the senate republican leader mitch mcconnell this afternoon. perhaps proof of how dire the circumstances are, president obama took to the sunday show, potentially setting when we careen off the cliff, and in congress. less than 48 hours from falling off the cliff, president obama is putting the blame on republicans. >> the offers i have made them are so fair that a lot of democrats get mad at me. >> on his first sunday show appearance since...
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Dec 30, 2012
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. >> reporter: with that harry reid and mitch mcconnell launched a latch-dimp effort to craft a bipt plan to that stop the tax hike going into effect on new year's day. they negotiated all day saturday. saturday night there was an offer. by this morning, a clear sense of optimism and warnings that failure would be unthinkable. >> there are no breakthroughs yet, but there's a real possibility of a deal. >> if we are not able to reach an agreement, it will be dire. >> the morning's optimism turned into the afternoon's pessimism. the senate opened for business at 1:00 p.m. with the ominous prayer from the chaplain. >> look with favor on our nation and save us from self-inflicted wounds. >> reporter: soon democratic leader reed acknowledged he had not been able to make a counteroffer to republicans. >> it's just that we're apart on some pretty big issues. >> frustrated with the impasse, republican mcconnell said he called vice president biden, urging him to get involved. >> i'm concerned about the lack urgency here. i want erch to know i'm willing to get this done, but i need a dance par
. >> reporter: with that harry reid and mitch mcconnell launched a latch-dimp effort to craft a bipt plan to that stop the tax hike going into effect on new year's day. they negotiated all day saturday. saturday night there was an offer. by this morning, a clear sense of optimism and warnings that failure would be unthinkable. >> there are no breakthroughs yet, but there's a real possibility of a deal. >> if we are not able to reach an agreement, it will be dire. >> the...
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mcconnell and joe biden. so there's an indication of how things are going. >> you wrote that democrats are hesitant to put a deal on the senate floor with no republican backing, because it just offers them a chance to score political points when public opinion does seem to be favoring the democrats. democrats don't have an incentive to waste a show of support for something that can't pass, right? >> that's exactly where democrats are. they feel like they want to get a deal with republican backing, if they can. but remember on friday, the president kind of put republicans in a box. he said either cut a deal in the senate and push it through, or i'm going to ask harry reid to put my scaled back plan on the senate floor. and remember that scaled back plan has tax increases for everybody who makes over $250,000, which republicans don't love at all. i'll have harry reid put that on the floor and you'll have to block it. and you will have to then take responsibility for not pushing it through. so republicans are a
mcconnell and joe biden. so there's an indication of how things are going. >> you wrote that democrats are hesitant to put a deal on the senate floor with no republican backing, because it just offers them a chance to score political points when public opinion does seem to be favoring the democrats. democrats don't have an incentive to waste a show of support for something that can't pass, right? >> that's exactly where democrats are. they feel like they want to get a deal with...
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harry reid and mitch mcconnell are the key players. he sounded frustrated after not receiving a counter-offer. a key member of the leadership team offered this update. >> offeringses and discussions between and we remain hopeful that will get a breakthrough. obviously what happened here between the two leaders in the senate had broken down because the senate democrats failed to come forward with a counter offer to the proposal the republicans made last night. hopefully the discussions between the.and senator mcconnell will get us on track. >> republican aides recognize the consequences if it falls apart. everybody gets a tax increase in 48 hours. >> well, it's less than 48 hours now. i'm wonder, are the democrats fighting among themself? >> there's a battle over social security. republicans are including a new way of calculating inflation to lower payments to recipients of social security. democrats had could consider it if it's part of a $4 trillion package. now republicans say it's off the table and key democrats are hopeful senate l
harry reid and mitch mcconnell are the key players. he sounded frustrated after not receiving a counter-offer. a key member of the leadership team offered this update. >> offeringses and discussions between and we remain hopeful that will get a breakthrough. obviously what happened here between the two leaders in the senate had broken down because the senate democrats failed to come forward with a counter offer to the proposal the republicans made last night. hopefully the discussions...
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Dec 30, 2012
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so hopefully the discussion between the vice president and senator mcconnell will get us back on track and hopefully a breakthrough and something that we can ultimately vote on yet today or tomorrow that would overt what we all believe is an economic disaster. >> most successful businessmen and successful people they have talked to are willing to pay more. and so it remains to be seen whether the republicans being driven by a very extreme group of house members will allow the economy to hurt because of their desire to protect multimillionaires in this country. that is what it is going to boil down to. >> so two things to flesh out there, don. first of all, senator john thune, a member of the republican leadership talking about talks between senator mcconnell, the republican leader, and the vice president joe biden. that is something that started transpire today. senator mcconnell as our jessica yellin reported, he reached out to joe biden and that is a sidebar conversation, but an important one, because the two of them have a longstanding relationship, and joe biden was a senator for t
so hopefully the discussion between the vice president and senator mcconnell will get us back on track and hopefully a breakthrough and something that we can ultimately vote on yet today or tomorrow that would overt what we all believe is an economic disaster. >> most successful businessmen and successful people they have talked to are willing to pay more. and so it remains to be seen whether the republicans being driven by a very extreme group of house members will allow the economy to...
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Dec 30, 2012
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at the same time, if hrry reid and mitch mcconnell working on it how are you guys going to receive it when it gets over into your chamber? >> probay not well. here's the deal, this all could have been worked out some time ago. august of the end of july, the house-passed tax bill and senate over to the senate. there were free taken up an amended and take it back. that's the way things usually wowork. revenue bills must originate the house of representatives. we get to work six months ago. a work product six there and wait for the senate to take something up. here is what is troubling about all this. we will get through this this week however it turns out or next week, however turns out. you are right about the debt limit. that is going to recess well, and then just after that we have an appropriations lapse. so the first three months of the year you have fiscal cliff, debt limit, and appropriations laps all staring the american people in the face. i get it that people are sick of this combat at the same time it is because we have such an nasa's spending problem is the reason why these
at the same time, if hrry reid and mitch mcconnell working on it how are you guys going to receive it when it gets over into your chamber? >> probay not well. here's the deal, this all could have been worked out some time ago. august of the end of july, the house-passed tax bill and senate over to the senate. there were free taken up an amended and take it back. that's the way things usually wowork. revenue bills must originate the house of representatives. we get to work six months ago....
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Dec 30, 2012
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mcconnell in your talks. my sources have said that those talks went very well and they've restarted the talks now between reid and mcconnell. now, it's going to go probably late tonight, late tonight. we'll have to see. >> okay. we're going to have to leave it there. that wraps things up for me. we continue to wait for a deal to be reached on capitol hill to avoid the fiscal cliff. you're watching msnbc, the place for politics. better. so now i can be in the scene. advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator working together to help improve your lung function all day. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressur
mcconnell in your talks. my sources have said that those talks went very well and they've restarted the talks now between reid and mcconnell. now, it's going to go probably late tonight, late tonight. we'll have to see. >> okay. we're going to have to leave it there. that wraps things up for me. we continue to wait for a deal to be reached on capitol hill to avoid the fiscal cliff. you're watching msnbc, the place for politics. better. so now i can be in the scene. advair is clinically...
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he certainly has a long history of talks and bipartisan negotiations with mitch mcconnell. i want to, over the past hour, we have spoken to two republican senators, i wanted to talk to claire mccaskill, thanks very much for joining us, they just ended their almost two-hour meeting, martin, two hours, what was going on in there behind those door? >> i know you will be shocked to hear that a lot of senators wanted to talk. >> that is shocking. >> everyone wanted to have their same i think the consensus is that we all still want to try to get a deal but some of us are very discouraged that what appears to be on the table now doesn't really do anything to reduce the deficit and this was all supposed to be an exercise in bringing down our deficit and our long-term debt and where we are right now, it doesn't appear that we are getting that done and even more importantly, it appears that republicans are still trying to protect the tippy top as opposed to looking after the greater good of the economy and middle class families. >> as far as you-all were told by the democratic leader
he certainly has a long history of talks and bipartisan negotiations with mitch mcconnell. i want to, over the past hour, we have spoken to two republican senators, i wanted to talk to claire mccaskill, thanks very much for joining us, they just ended their almost two-hour meeting, martin, two hours, what was going on in there behind those door? >> i know you will be shocked to hear that a lot of senators wanted to talk. >> that is shocking. >> everyone wanted to have their...
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i do think that mcconnell -- that's where he wants to be. can he get there in the next 24 hours? that's what we don't know. >> tom brokaw? >> well, it seems to me that the middle class is going to have a date for the prom. everybody is talking about protecting the middle class here. so i think this deal will probably get done around the middle class tax cut. it's at what level. $400,000 or $250,000 or some other number. which is going to be critically important. a lot of people don't realize in a large urban and suburban areas of america, $250,000 doesn't make you rich. you have two kids at college at $60,000, if you're a boomer, you may have a dependant parent of some kind, spending another $20,000 or $25,000 on. you have to have a definition of what is the middle class. to david's point, i do really believe that the president doesn't work hard enough at bringing everybody into the white house and rolling up his sleeves, having him in the living quarters, getting them around the table and saying how can we get this deal done? he didn't talk downstream about tax reform, for examp
i do think that mcconnell -- that's where he wants to be. can he get there in the next 24 hours? that's what we don't know. >> tom brokaw? >> well, it seems to me that the middle class is going to have a date for the prom. everybody is talking about protecting the middle class here. so i think this deal will probably get done around the middle class tax cut. it's at what level. $400,000 or $250,000 or some other number. which is going to be critically important. a lot of people...
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you heard senator mcconnell talk about that on the floor. we are still awaiting a counteroffer by the democrats. and there was an indication that we could have received that by 10:00 this morning. we have yet to receive it. but there are discussions that continue. senator mcconnell and vice president biden are continuing to discuss this and we think there perhaps still could be a path forward. the one thing that is a, you know, democrats come out and made a big deal out of chained cpi, republicans are very concerned that if that not be used as an offset to reduce or to replace some of the spending cuts that you would occur in the sequester, that democrats put forward an alternative and so this is a process. obviously, there's a lot of give and take going on now, but republicans don't want to see new revenues, in other words, democrat tax increases, be used for new spending. so that's sort of where many of our members have drawn the line now. >> that is where it times to be one of the big road blocks are right now, democrats -- you-all want t
you heard senator mcconnell talk about that on the floor. we are still awaiting a counteroffer by the democrats. and there was an indication that we could have received that by 10:00 this morning. we have yet to receive it. but there are discussions that continue. senator mcconnell and vice president biden are continuing to discuss this and we think there perhaps still could be a path forward. the one thing that is a, you know, democrats come out and made a big deal out of chained cpi,...
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mcconnell's office responded with while the president was taping those discordant remarks senator mcconnell was in the office work to go bring republicans and democrats to get on the solution. discussions continue today. >>> joining me, doug shawn, former pollster for president bill clinton. nancy, media speaks strategy and national spokesperson to senator john mccain. >>> the president goes on "meet the press" and claims it's the fault of the awful republicans and that angers mcconnell, who lashes back out. so that was clearly a calculated risk by the president, angrying your opponent versus pressuring him publicly to cave. which way does it go? >> we don't know. we're all pretty pessimistic given the breakdown the talks today but i think the president's strategy is to keep constant pressure on the republicans, recognizing this battle is not going to be over whether or not there's a deal. it's going to go on dealing with the debt sciele and the budget and the president is not letting up. he said he won the election and that's how econducting himself. the polls are pretty clear that he's go
mcconnell's office responded with while the president was taping those discordant remarks senator mcconnell was in the office work to go bring republicans and democrats to get on the solution. discussions continue today. >>> joining me, doug shawn, former pollster for president bill clinton. nancy, media speaks strategy and national spokesperson to senator john mccain. >>> the president goes on "meet the press" and claims it's the fault of the awful republicans and...
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it is interesting to hear mitch mcconnell talking about his good faith efforts. he knows that he just threw a monkey wrench into the negotiations y. think he is also doing it to protect speaker boehner and the republicans and the house because he doesn't want to send them a deal that he knows they are going to vote down. >> let's talk about the blame game going on. i want to play a piece of tape. republican this morning really blaming president obama. let's listen. >> what we're seeing here is a monumental failure of presidential leadership. the president is the only person with a pen who can sign this and it is the president's responsibility to work on something that the house will pass and the senate will pass. he is outsourcing this. he continues to campaign and lecture when he ought to be focusing on the number one problem that hurts us in the country which is our debt. >> what is your reaction to hearing that? >> that is a lot of nonsense and i think the american people who have been following this conversation recognize that the president has proposed a bal
it is interesting to hear mitch mcconnell talking about his good faith efforts. he knows that he just threw a monkey wrench into the negotiations y. think he is also doing it to protect speaker boehner and the republicans and the house because he doesn't want to send them a deal that he knows they are going to vote down. >> let's talk about the blame game going on. i want to play a piece of tape. republican this morning really blaming president obama. let's listen. >> what we're...
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if mitch mcconnell is looking for a dance partner. the united states is the dance partner for the entire world. the markets hate uncertainty what they hate even more is steering abject failure square in the face. those markets are going to open up in four or five hours' time we should see some limited reaction in asia. but perhaps not yet. it's still uncertain what is going to happen here. there's a huge stake. everyone realizes. europe has got its problems. germany starting to feel the effects of the global, of the downturn in europe. china, cutting its growth forecasts, india doing the same. the last thing anyone on the world stage needs right now is for the u.s. to start sliding back into recession. but you know, let's be clear here. that's, that would take some time. there would still be time for some kind of a deal. but it's the uncertainty that is really driving everybody's nerves in all of this. it's going to affect commodity prices in countries like brazil. countries like russia, everybody is in this together. waiting to see w
if mitch mcconnell is looking for a dance partner. the united states is the dance partner for the entire world. the markets hate uncertainty what they hate even more is steering abject failure square in the face. those markets are going to open up in four or five hours' time we should see some limited reaction in asia. but perhaps not yet. it's still uncertain what is going to happen here. there's a huge stake. everyone realizes. europe has got its problems. germany starting to feel the effects...
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but because i think it's been very hard for speaker boehner and republican leader mcconnell to accept the fact that taxes on the wealthiest americans should go up a little bit. as part of an overall deficit reduction package. >> you talk about a dysfunction in washington. you signed this legislation setting up the fiscal cliff 17 months ago. how accountable are you for the fact that washington can't get anything done and we're at this deadline again? >> well i have to tell you, david, if you look at my track record over the last two years, i cut spending by over $1 trillion in 2011. i campaigned on the promise of being willing to reduce the deficit in a serious way, in a balanced approach of spending cuts and tax increases on the wealthy, while keeping middle-class taxes low. i put forward a very specific proposal to do that. i negotiated with speaker boehner in good faith and moved more than halfway in order to achieve a grand bargain. i offered over $1 trillion in additional spending cuts. so that we would have $2 of spending cuts for every $1 of increased revenue. i think anybody o
but because i think it's been very hard for speaker boehner and republican leader mcconnell to accept the fact that taxes on the wealthiest americans should go up a little bit. as part of an overall deficit reduction package. >> you talk about a dysfunction in washington. you signed this legislation setting up the fiscal cliff 17 months ago. how accountable are you for the fact that washington can't get anything done and we're at this deadline again? >> well i have to tell you,...
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i was told by another source that mcconnell offered this last night. and that the democrats formally rejected it about an hour ago. this is important because the good news is we weren't hearing a lot of details. it definitely could be a employ and it probably is part of a employ to make republicans understand they're serious. they mean it, the democrats, when they say they're not going to go for this. what the technical term is chain cpi. they're not going to go for it. but if it is not that, if it is really genuine and the republicans won't back down on this. then it could be a very, very bad omen for getting this kind of deal. because we only really have hours to go. >> well, let's talk about that the timeline here. if a deal isn't reached today, they could hold a vote tomorrow, could we see this possibly dragging on to new year's day? >> possibly. but the plan as far as senate democrats go and they're in charge of the senate is as follows. if this setback isn't fixed over the next few hours, then what senate democrats plan to do by this evening is t
i was told by another source that mcconnell offered this last night. and that the democrats formally rejected it about an hour ago. this is important because the good news is we weren't hearing a lot of details. it definitely could be a employ and it probably is part of a employ to make republicans understand they're serious. they mean it, the democrats, when they say they're not going to go for this. what the technical term is chain cpi. they're not going to go for it. but if it is not that,...
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guest: mitch mcconnell is up for reelection in 2014. if he agrees with the white house, it will hurt him in his district. rand paul -- mcconnell has less room to maneuver now than with previous deals. for harry reid, a lot of his reputation is on the line. can he put something on the floor of the senate that his own democrats will support? guest: the clearest losers are those unemployed and trying to get jobs. when we are concerned about deficits or not having a short- term deficit reduction, it is because of a concern for the economy. there are different prescriptions for the economy at different times. allowing the economy to slow down would be a drastic abdication of responsibility of everyone in washington. that is not to say everyone is equal in the blame where this is just something that washington does. that is not always the case. in this case, you have a recovery. you have people may be ignoring what common economic. 20 just to you do --, an economic theory which tell us to do. it hurts the american people, especially those loo
guest: mitch mcconnell is up for reelection in 2014. if he agrees with the white house, it will hurt him in his district. rand paul -- mcconnell has less room to maneuver now than with previous deals. for harry reid, a lot of his reputation is on the line. can he put something on the floor of the senate that his own democrats will support? guest: the clearest losers are those unemployed and trying to get jobs. when we are concerned about deficits or not having a short- term deficit reduction,...
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well, bill, you just heard mitch mcconnell say he is hopeful and optimistic. will congress pass something in the next 48 hours, something to avoid the fiscal cliff? >> i don't know. but i guess probably. and it will be a bad deal but i suppose better than doing nothing. amazing every working american's taxes will go up on january 1. they are doing nothing about the payroll tax which is a big increase, 2%. and we will have totally irresponsible defense cuts. everybody agrees this is probably bad policy to have middle class americans taxes go up and this is what congress thinks is a good deal. >> chris: i'm not sure they think it is a good deal but a deal that avoids the worst of the fiscal cliff. senator bayh, obviously we don't know what is your sense? no filibuster in the senate. you heard what lindsey graham said and do republicans pass whatever it is that the senate agrees to? >> i think the odds are some what better than 50/50, chris, that we get a minimal deal in the senate. not one that solves our debt problem as you pointed out earlier and this is all j
well, bill, you just heard mitch mcconnell say he is hopeful and optimistic. will congress pass something in the next 48 hours, something to avoid the fiscal cliff? >> i don't know. but i guess probably. and it will be a bad deal but i suppose better than doing nothing. amazing every working american's taxes will go up on january 1. they are doing nothing about the payroll tax which is a big increase, 2%. and we will have totally irresponsible defense cuts. everybody agrees this is...
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we are expecting to hear from republican leader mitch mcconnell, maybe even senate majority leader harry reid, as of now so far as we know there is no fiscal cliff deal, but negotiations primarily betweens those two men are going on even as we speak or between their staffs. we're hearing a new sense of optimism from some senate members who believe they might be able to pass some kind of minimalist package that would keep tax rates from going up on the majority of americans. i want to go to capitol hill and cnn's senior congressional correspondent dana bash. dana, is that the sense you get that somehow we should be optimistic about whatever it is that's going on? >> you know, as we talked about before, you definitely get a feeling or the atmosphere here is that there is progress being made but in the same breath, but, there are still thingsing to worked out. as we wait for what we generally see when the senate opens which is the pledge of allegiance, a prayer and so forth, if you see the bottom of your screen, i'm not sure if you can see it, white hair, that is harry reid, the senate majo
we are expecting to hear from republican leader mitch mcconnell, maybe even senate majority leader harry reid, as of now so far as we know there is no fiscal cliff deal, but negotiations primarily betweens those two men are going on even as we speak or between their staffs. we're hearing a new sense of optimism from some senate members who believe they might be able to pass some kind of minimalist package that would keep tax rates from going up on the majority of americans. i want to go to...
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the republican team in mcconnell's office. they are gaming out what they want and throw in offers across the table. the good news is they are trading those offers. >> t.j., can i say a word in defense of asinine politicians? the asinine politicians are reflecting real divisions in the country, divisions of self-interest, divisions of philosophy. it's more difficult to do because of the structure of our system, the way the two parties developed. ultimately, they are talking act thing that is cost people money and things that would benefit others financially. those are difficult issues to settle. you know, our system was designed to make them difficult to settle, not as difficult as they are in this circumstance. that's the nature of democracy. people said it's the worst form of government except for the other ones. >> you are right there. this is how it gets done. something seems wrong. it's accepting. i'm literally watching a clock here, tick, tick, tick as we get closer to the deadline. thank you both for being here. i know w
the republican team in mcconnell's office. they are gaming out what they want and throw in offers across the table. the good news is they are trading those offers. >> t.j., can i say a word in defense of asinine politicians? the asinine politicians are reflecting real divisions in the country, divisions of self-interest, divisions of philosophy. it's more difficult to do because of the structure of our system, the way the two parties developed. ultimately, they are talking act thing that...
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i don't want to -- mitch mcconnell -- >> if mitch mcconnell says $250,000, everybody above that will get a tax hike, are you there, yea. >> mitch mcconnell says $250,000 and above -- >> he's not going too do that. >> tax rate hike? >> senator schumer doesn't want to see that happen. christian gillibrand doesn't want to see that happen. dianne feinstein doesn't want to see that happen. it's not going to be 250. some number. there's going to be -- i don't know what it's going to be. the floor is at least 400 because that's out there. my guess is, we're going to be in -- i don't want to say, at least 500 and my guess is it's going to happen and pass and -- but here's the thing. you're talking about 8 days of funding for the united states government. >> right. >> medicare -- >> when spending comes in. >> we have a medicare program where people are paying one third of the cost and 20 million more americans will be on it the next ten years and we have yet to deal with that. >> one other thing that the president said during this interview. he was asked about chuck hagel used to be a republi
i don't want to -- mitch mcconnell -- >> if mitch mcconnell says $250,000, everybody above that will get a tax hike, are you there, yea. >> mitch mcconnell says $250,000 and above -- >> he's not going too do that. >> tax rate hike? >> senator schumer doesn't want to see that happen. christian gillibrand doesn't want to see that happen. dianne feinstein doesn't want to see that happen. it's not going to be 250. some number. there's going to be -- i don't know what...
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a spokesman for senator mitch mcconnell says while the president was tapingly those remark, senator mcconnell was trying to bring republicans and democrats together on a solution. the spokesman notes, discussions continue. if senator mcconnell and harry reid can reach a deal in the next couple of hours, leading senate republican notes there is no guarantee it will pass both the house and the senate. >> if mcconnell can't get 60% of us to vote for this deal, it will be hard for boehner to get it through the house. i want to vote for it even though i won't like it because the country has a lot at stake. >> among the republican krengs any revenue generated by a potential deal, they would like to see it come do paying down the deficit, not new government spending. shannon? >> how confident are the "cook's essentialsal" democrats about the ability to get this done? >> reporter: congressional democrats do not sound over confident. they recognize this is a heavy lift between the top two senators in the next couple of hours. but a leading new york democrat sounded cautiously optimistic. >> there is c
a spokesman for senator mitch mcconnell says while the president was tapingly those remark, senator mcconnell was trying to bring republicans and democrats together on a solution. the spokesman notes, discussions continue. if senator mcconnell and harry reid can reach a deal in the next couple of hours, leading senate republican notes there is no guarantee it will pass both the house and the senate. >> if mcconnell can't get 60% of us to vote for this deal, it will be hard for boehner to...
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. >> reporter: senate republican leader mitch mcconnell left the capitol tight lipped and smiling after working behind closed doors to avoid the so- called fiscal cliff. >> need progress today, sir? >> reporter: he and harry reid are working on scaled-down agreement that focuses on avoiding a middle-class tax hike. the plan is to present it to the full senate for a vote on sunday and send it to the house and hoax john boehner was at the capitol and left with no comment. both sides remain at odds over the democrat's insistence that the wealthy pay more in taxes. >> the president's tax hook would only fund the government for eight days. americans deserve to know what is the president -- what does the president propose we do for the other 357 days of the year. >> reporter: president obama insists his plan on the table is fair and includes plenty of cuts to government spending. >> we just can't afford a politically self-inflicted wound to our economy. >> reporter: if sunday's negotiations don't pan out, the president said he's ready to propose his own scaled-back bill that would block tax i
. >> reporter: senate republican leader mitch mcconnell left the capitol tight lipped and smiling after working behind closed doors to avoid the so- called fiscal cliff. >> need progress today, sir? >> reporter: he and harry reid are working on scaled-down agreement that focuses on avoiding a middle-class tax hike. the plan is to present it to the full senate for a vote on sunday and send it to the house and hoax john boehner was at the capitol and left with no comment. both...
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>> reporter: nora, democrats will at this point are very pessimistic that leader reed and leader mcconnell will be able to strike that deal that they were so hopeful about 24 hours ago. the two staffs worked late into the night. they trade proposals will back and forth but democrats tell us they are just still too far apart on taxes. democrats was soset the limit at $250, 000, let the tush of bush tax cuts expire for people making more than that. republicansment that limit to be higher, and they're also far apart on estate taxes. they will meet with their caucuses later today and at that point we expect they're going to tell their members they just weren't able to make out a deal on this. >> o'donnell: major, you have been talking to the white house. >> reporter: the fiscal cliff preoccupation hab about taxes but there's another part, across-the-board cuts, and they are preparing to send out furlough noticees, and apply want quester. >> o'donnell: the white house is preparing to do that? >> reporter: it that's. because the deadline is approaching. it cannot reasonably ignore the law, and m
>> reporter: nora, democrats will at this point are very pessimistic that leader reed and leader mcconnell will be able to strike that deal that they were so hopeful about 24 hours ago. the two staffs worked late into the night. they trade proposals will back and forth but democrats tell us they are just still too far apart on taxes. democrats was soset the limit at $250, 000, let the tush of bush tax cuts expire for people making more than that. republicansment that limit to be higher,...
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i want the bottom line from both of you even if senators reid and mcconnell come to a deal. you're the top republican vote counter. will it pass and will it fly in the house? will this be done in time? >> if there is enough in the agreement for republicans to be able to support it, and we can get a majority of republicans in the senate and a majority of democrats in the senate, then i think there's a good opportunity for a majority of democrats and republicans in the house to support such a package, and i think a lot of that depends upon whether president obama is willing to compromise this sort of fixation with raising taxes above anybody making more than $200,000 a year. >> reed and mcconnell are both very good leaders and vote counters. if they come to an agreement, they know that they will be able to carry a majority of each of their troops. the real question mark is the house. the house is a bit out of control. they're the reason we've had the problems all along but my guess, if the house and senate agree and leader mcconnell agrees, the house will go along with it too.
i want the bottom line from both of you even if senators reid and mcconnell come to a deal. you're the top republican vote counter. will it pass and will it fly in the house? will this be done in time? >> if there is enough in the agreement for republicans to be able to support it, and we can get a majority of republicans in the senate and a majority of democrats in the senate, then i think there's a good opportunity for a majority of democrats and republicans in the house to support such...
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but the mitch mcconnell was seen arriving just after congressional leaders met with obama. >> we are going to work hard to see if we get there. i am hopeful and optimistic. >> reporter: missouri senator say that both sides have an important opportunity but the tax hike will not do much to address the debt. >> the presidential proposal will not even pay one-third of the interest on this massive 16 trillion dollar debt. >> reporter: they will return just one day before a deal needs to be reached. they will be unlikely burning the midnight oil. there will be-likely be burning the midnight oil. a who look outside at mount tam we will be right back. >> let us take a quick look outside. janu? >> we are expecting plenty of sunshine. it is also very cold with a chilly start. dense fog and low visibility. plenty of sunshine for those headed to the game. it is going to be another cold one. taking a look at your temperatures are, 36 in santa rosa. 39 and of vallejo, mid-40s in oakland. 38 and the sunnyvale. as we take a look we will see whites. 40's. 50s, very similar to yesterday we will seek-
but the mitch mcconnell was seen arriving just after congressional leaders met with obama. >> we are going to work hard to see if we get there. i am hopeful and optimistic. >> reporter: missouri senator say that both sides have an important opportunity but the tax hike will not do much to address the debt. >> the presidential proposal will not even pay one-third of the interest on this massive 16 trillion dollar debt. >> reporter: they will return just one day before a...
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i'm confident senator mcconnell will do the same. >> o'donnell: we'll have the
i'm confident senator mcconnell will do the same. >> o'donnell: we'll have the
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. >> speaker boehner is unwilling to negotiate we have not heard a word from leader mcconnell. nothing is happening. >> we wanted an agreement, but we had no takers. >> o'donnell: it took a trip to the white house and a package scolding from the president. >> the american people are watching what we do here. obviously, their patience is already thin. this is deja vu all over again. >> o'donnell: but by week's end, senate leaders agreed to make a last-ditch effort to get a deal. >> so i'm hopeful and optimistic. >> i'm going to do everything i can. i'm confident senator mcconnell will do the same. >> o'donnell: we'll have the latest on what that agreement might look like but will it actually do anything to cut the deficit? and what happens nay don't get a deal? we'll hear from two senators who have been working together on deficit reduction, assistant majority leader dick durbin of illinois, and senator tom coburn of oklahoma. then we'll look forward to 2013 with an all-star panel include peggy noonan of the "wall street journal." dee dee myers of "vanity fair." "time" magazine'
. >> speaker boehner is unwilling to negotiate we have not heard a word from leader mcconnell. nothing is happening. >> we wanted an agreement, but we had no takers. >> o'donnell: it took a trip to the white house and a package scolding from the president. >> the american people are watching what we do here. obviously, their patience is already thin. this is deja vu all over again. >> o'donnell: but by week's end, senate leaders agreed to make a last-ditch effort...
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guest: mcconnell is up for reelection in 2014. if he agrees with the white house on something, particularly tax increases, it will hurt him in his election. remember rand paul -- mcconnell has less room to maneuver. for harry reid, a lot of his reputation is on the line. can he put something on the floor of the senate that some democrats will support? guest: the biggest loser is the unemployed and those trying to get jobs. that is what this is about. really, people need to step back and realize, while we are concerned about deficits, it is because it is a concern about the economy. there are different prescriptions for the economy at different times. allowing this recovery to slow down, even as it has already been anemic, would be a drastic abdication of responsibility by everybody in washington. that is not to say that everybody is equal to blame and this is something that washington does and be covered along -- that really is not always the case. in this specific case, you have our recovery, you have people ignoring what common
guest: mcconnell is up for reelection in 2014. if he agrees with the white house on something, particularly tax increases, it will hurt him in his election. remember rand paul -- mcconnell has less room to maneuver. for harry reid, a lot of his reputation is on the line. can he put something on the floor of the senate that some democrats will support? guest: the biggest loser is the unemployed and those trying to get jobs. that is what this is about. really, people need to step back and...
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>> i think if mcconnell is onboard he will bring a lot of republican votes. the democrats are by and large if the president supports it they will back their president. there could be enough votes in the house, speaker john boehner talked about amending that bill. i think if it gets a 70 to 30 senate vote i think i it get te votes in it the house to pass but it might not happen until after january 3, january 4. >> i want to ask you about what ed henry was just reporting. president obama says either a deal is reached or you vote on the short-term stop gap measure. if republicans fail to pass it i'm summarizing it's their fault. so the president kind of tossing the ball into the republican's camp, placing blame on them. in your opinion s that presidential leadership? >> the republicans have gone after the president that he has deferred to congress on this is that he was unable to strike a deal between -- with speaker boehner and now it is to reid and mcconnell. on one hand, obama is criticizing the congress but also giving them the responsibility to come up with
>> i think if mcconnell is onboard he will bring a lot of republican votes. the democrats are by and large if the president supports it they will back their president. there could be enough votes in the house, speaker john boehner talked about amending that bill. i think if it gets a 70 to 30 senate vote i think i it get te votes in it the house to pass but it might not happen until after january 3, january 4. >> i want to ask you about what ed henry was just reporting. president...
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what's happening right now is harry reid and mitch mcconnell, the top democrat, top republican in the senate, are still negotiating their staffs at this hour. they are supposed to be working until about 3:00 this afternoon when the plan would be presented to both caucuses. as we understand what they are talking about is the bare minimum. basically the senate negotiating to extend those tax cuts for everybody making under $250,000 a year and to extend unemployment benefits. also they're talking about trying to do something to stop the automatic spending cuts that go into effect, but don't expect a deal on that. now, dan, if a deal can be reached today, the senate would begin looking at it, begin debating it, and then you would see a vote tomorrow in the senate and possibly a vote tomorrow in the house because as you know, if we get to tuesday without any of this happening, off the cliff. >> and, jon, you say off the cliff by tuesday, just two days left. how damaging would it be if we do indeed go off the cliff even if we bungee jump back up a few days or weeks after with a mini deal? >
what's happening right now is harry reid and mitch mcconnell, the top democrat, top republican in the senate, are still negotiating their staffs at this hour. they are supposed to be working until about 3:00 this afternoon when the plan would be presented to both caucuses. as we understand what they are talking about is the bare minimum. basically the senate negotiating to extend those tax cuts for everybody making under $250,000 a year and to extend unemployment benefits. also they're talking...
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you heard mitch mcconnell say he's hopeful and optimistic. will congress pass something in the next 48 hours, something? to avoid the fiscal cliff? >> i don't know. but, i guess, probably. and it will be a bad deal but i suppose better than doing nothing. and, every working american's taxes will go up january 1st if they do nothing about the payroll tax, a pretty big increase, and, defense cuts and everyone agrees, with that policy to have middle class americans' taxes go up, and, it totally irresponsible defense cuts and this is what congress thinks is a good deal. >> chris: i'm not sure it is a good deal but avoids the worst of the fiscal cliff. senator bayh -- obviously, we don't know, what is your sense, no filibuster in the senate? you heard lindsay graham and do republicans pass whatever the senate agrees to? >> the odds are somewhat better than 50/50 we get a minimal deal in the senate. not one that solves our debt problem, as you pointed out earlier and this is a prequel to going through it again around the first of march over the deb
you heard mitch mcconnell say he's hopeful and optimistic. will congress pass something in the next 48 hours, something? to avoid the fiscal cliff? >> i don't know. but, i guess, probably. and it will be a bad deal but i suppose better than doing nothing. and, every working american's taxes will go up january 1st if they do nothing about the payroll tax, a pretty big increase, and, defense cuts and everyone agrees, with that policy to have middle class americans' taxes go up, and, it...
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i know before friday's meeting, but the new new thinking is both reid and mcconnell have a new energy to come to the deal and there's a sense the senate is trying. there's a lot of anxiety about the house. >> we're in the washington per pept wall state on the verge of progress. the dog that's not barking is the debt ceiling, and that's the question of whether we're going to be right back here in february with all these questions on the table because of the expiration of the debt ceiling. >> matt, you've written about the debt ceiling. the president has said i'm not playing politics with the debt ceiling or negotiate over the debt ceiling. he can't hold on that, can he? >> they're back now. what we're talking about now is more or less the kind of thing they do every year now, which is to come down to the deadline on this stuff that's expiring and try to redo it. the larger hope here, obviously, after the election was to revisit the grand bargain negotiations. i was mistaken because i thought both the speaker and president wanted to do that. it's become apparent in the last couple weeks
i know before friday's meeting, but the new new thinking is both reid and mcconnell have a new energy to come to the deal and there's a sense the senate is trying. there's a lot of anxiety about the house. >> we're in the washington per pept wall state on the verge of progress. the dog that's not barking is the debt ceiling, and that's the question of whether we're going to be right back here in february with all these questions on the table because of the expiration of the debt ceiling....
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. >> majority leader harry reid and minority leader mitch mcconnell say they're confident they come to a compromise but they have to sell it to john boehner and fellow republicans before the deadline. >> president obama will be david gregory's exclusive guest on "meet the press" later this morning. you can watch his interview at 10:00 a.m. former president george h.w. bush is out of intensive care and said to be improving this morning. he is in a regular room at houston methodist hospital. a family spokesperson says the family thanks everyone for their prayers and good wishes. he is being treated for a cough. a lawyer for one of the survivors of the newtown school massacre says the state of connecticut didn't do enough to keep kids safe and wants to sue for $100 million. the attorney says the state failed to provide a safe setting for his clintd, an unidentified 6-year-old girl. he says after hearing gunfire, she was left with emotional scars. to howard county where police say they've cracked a string of burglaries that hit homes in columbia and ellicott city. nadia ramdass has the sto
. >> majority leader harry reid and minority leader mitch mcconnell say they're confident they come to a compromise but they have to sell it to john boehner and fellow republicans before the deadline. >> president obama will be david gregory's exclusive guest on "meet the press" later this morning. you can watch his interview at 10:00 a.m. former president george h.w. bush is out of intensive care and said to be improving this morning. he is in a regular room at houston...
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this leaves mitch mcconnell in a weird, grey area. he recognizes the gamesmanship and a need to get a deal done and he has a eye on the republican party's conservative base which is relentlessly opposed to any tax increase and senator mccobb nell is up for re-election in 2014 where tea party rebellion toppled his own protÉge and instead, send rand paul to the senate. i'll bring in nbc news capitol hill correspondent, kelly o'donnell. >>> waiting for action here today. >> reporter: it seems pretty quiet at the moment, steve. it's one of those things where you feel like something big is going to happen but as you walk through the corridors here, it seems pretty quiet at the moment. >> well, we have all sorts of conflicting reports out there about what the broad framework would be if there's going to be a deal. i guess the big stumble bling block is number one, what is the fresh hold be for the tax income? $250,000 which obama originally proposed? $400,000 which he supposedly offered in a revised offer a week ago? and then, of course, t
this leaves mitch mcconnell in a weird, grey area. he recognizes the gamesmanship and a need to get a deal done and he has a eye on the republican party's conservative base which is relentlessly opposed to any tax increase and senator mccobb nell is up for re-election in 2014 where tea party rebellion toppled his own protÉge and instead, send rand paul to the senate. i'll bring in nbc news capitol hill correspondent, kelly o'donnell. >>> waiting for action here today. >>...
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republican leader, mitch mcconnell, was spotted at the capital. when asked if they would reach a deal, he told reporters, quote, i hope so. erica? >> many americans hoping so too. >>> david gregory is moderator of "meet the press." good morning. >> good morning, erica. >> you sat down with an exclusive interview with the president. did he seem optimistic to you? >> he says he is optimistic but really preparing to play hardball. his own approach, plan "b," is a small deal to get an extension of the middle class tax cuts and do very little else. the fight over the debt continues into the new year just weeks ahead over the debt limit. this is, in effect, something he feels so strongly about doing now. you go back months and months and months, the feeling in the white house is if they win the election, they are going to get their tax increase on wealthier americans. there is a feeling the president has to step back from that, to compromise on that key point would be a failure of leadership. >> talking about the stop gap, you are mentioning it here. th
republican leader, mitch mcconnell, was spotted at the capital. when asked if they would reach a deal, he told reporters, quote, i hope so. erica? >> many americans hoping so too. >>> david gregory is moderator of "meet the press." good morning. >> good morning, erica. >> you sat down with an exclusive interview with the president. did he seem optimistic to you? >> he says he is optimistic but really preparing to play hardball. his own approach, plan...
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from the senate floor words of optimism from minority leader mitch mcconnell. >> we are engaged in discussions, the majority leader and myself in the white house in the hopes that we can come forward as early as sunday and have a recommendation. >> reporter: senate majority leader harry reid took a cautionary tone, perhaps to allay the fears of americans who are wondering how going off the cliff will affect their paychecks. analysts say taxes on people making between 50,000 and $75,000 a year will go up an average of $2400. >> whenever we come up -- whatever we come up is going to be imperfect. some people aren't going to like it, some people will like it less but that's where we are. i feel confident that we have an obligation to do the best we can and that was made very clear in the white house. >> reporter: president obama says it's important for congress to vote on some type of package before the fiscal cliff deadline expires. >> if an agreement isn't reached in time between senator reid and senator mcconnell, then i will urge senator reid to bring to the floor a basic package for an upor
from the senate floor words of optimism from minority leader mitch mcconnell. >> we are engaged in discussions, the majority leader and myself in the white house in the hopes that we can come forward as early as sunday and have a recommendation. >> reporter: senate majority leader harry reid took a cautionary tone, perhaps to allay the fears of americans who are wondering how going off the cliff will affect their paychecks. analysts say taxes on people making between 50,000 and...
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i'm confident senator mcconnell will do the same. but everybody -- whatever everybody comes up with is going to be imperfect. some like it. some like it less, and that's where we are. i have the confidence we're going to do the best we can. that's the message in the white house. we we're going to do the best for the country that's waitinger for us to make a decision. >> clarence, you even seen this movie, right? >> well, yeah. at least in the works on the senate side. on the house side, we still don't know about those hard core intransigents, and even if the senate does come up with something, if the house can agree to go along with it, as kristen said, you have to have all the democrats and about 30 republicans. there's only about six republicans that are familiar to democrats. the rest don't seem to lose any points as far as they're concerned by appearing to be as much of a road block as they can, even if it means going over the fiscal cliff. so if harry reid and mr. mcconnell can't come up with something, then you've got barack ob
i'm confident senator mcconnell will do the same. but everybody -- whatever everybody comes up with is going to be imperfect. some like it. some like it less, and that's where we are. i have the confidence we're going to do the best we can. that's the message in the white house. we we're going to do the best for the country that's waitinger for us to make a decision. >> clarence, you even seen this movie, right? >> well, yeah. at least in the works on the senate side. on the house...
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guest: mcconnell is up for reelection in 2014. if he agrees with the white house on something, particularly tax increases, it will hurt him in his election. remember rand paul -- mcconnell has less room to maneuver. for harry reid, a lot of his reputation is on the line. can he put something on the floor of the senate that some democrats will support? guest: the biggest loser is the unemployed and those trying to get jobs. that is what this is about. really, people need to step back and realize, while we are concerned about deficits, it is because it is a concern about the economy. there are different prescriptions for the economy at different times. allowing this recovery to slow down, even as it has already been anemic, would be a drastic abdication of responsibility by everybody in washington. that is not to say that everybody is equal to blame and this is something that washington does and be covered along -- that really is not always the case. in this specific case, you have our recovery, you have people ignoring what common
guest: mcconnell is up for reelection in 2014. if he agrees with the white house on something, particularly tax increases, it will hurt him in his election. remember rand paul -- mcconnell has less room to maneuver. for harry reid, a lot of his reputation is on the line. can he put something on the floor of the senate that some democrats will support? guest: the biggest loser is the unemployed and those trying to get jobs. that is what this is about. really, people need to step back and...